Products having high wear-resistance are extensively used and there is a constant need for less expensive products having the same or better performance as/than existing products.
The manufacture of products having high wear-resistance may be based on e.g. powders, such as iron or iron-based powders, including carbon in the form of carbides.
Generally, carbides are very hard and have high melting points, characteristics which give them a high wear resistance in many applications. This wear resistance often makes carbides desirable as components in steels, e.g. high speed steels (HSS), that require a high wear resistance, such as steels for drills, lathes, valve seats and the likes. The Mo, W and V are strong carbide forming elements which make these elements especially interesting for the production of wear resistant products. Cr is another carbide forming element.
An article by E. Pagounis et al in Materials science and engineering A246, 1998, 221-234 discloses the preparation of a wear resistant material prepared from a steel powder, which is dry mixed with a ceramic powder of e.g. Cr3C3.
Although the materials known from this publication have good wear-resistant properties there is a need for less expensive products having the same or better performance. There is also a need for powders which do not exhibit the problems with segregation mentioned in the publication.
Thus it would be advantageous if expensive metals such as W, V and Nb could be dispensed with. It would also be beneficial if the materials could be prepared in a simple and cost-effective way.